But Wiener denies there was any political calculation on the TIDF vote, and he cast that vote as a lesson in political organizing. "We have not been organized enough in term of building political power for pro-transit policies, whether it's pedestrian safety or public transportation. We know that we've systematically underfunded Muni, we know that Muni does not do well in funding battles, it doesn't have effective lobbying for it," Wiener said.

"We had an all-star cast of public transit advocates up against the Chamber and it was a mismatch, so we need to build up much more institutional capacity for transit advocacy. That's what we're learning."